Great storytelling builds businesses

louise penny

Found a contact email address on Louise Penny’s website and wrote asking her assistant to let her know my friend with terminal cancer texted yesterday saying that reading the first of Penny’s books is helping her to forget her pain and sadness for a while: “I love the characters and the story. I want to BE Ruth.”

An excerpt from Ms. Penny’s response:

Please, call me Louise. You are right – there is no greater compliment to a writer – to a human – than that we have helped another person. Especially in times like your friend is in. Please give her a hug from me, and let her know that Armand, Reine-Marie, Gabri, Myrna et al are waiting for her in the bistro. They’ve saved a place with them by the fire. Even Ruth is there and we all know that she is FINE.

Like this:

“Michael and I have started to meditate. Not long. About ten minutes a day. We’d done it about ten years ago, but then got out of the habit. But I thought it might help his dementia and God knows, I often feel fairly demented. So I got some guided meditation CD’s and everyday we sit quietly and ‘watch’ our breathing. For a nano-second. Mostly I end up watching his breathing, sneaking peaks, and wondering how much longer. And then I watch my breathing. And then I think about dinner, and Christmas, and winter tires, and then I watch my breathing. Michael seems to sail through it, absolutely calm and focussed. I think, for me, it’s like writing. A process that is worth the effort. And effort it is, for me. But for Michael meditation seems completely natural. And I find it calming to see that peace on his face, when, eyes closed, he focusses on his breathing.”

Like this:

Louise Penny’s brightening up the world with her engaging, fun, well-written books about a fictitious Canadian village full of fabulous characters. She can write. And, she keeps winning awards.

She also manages her own social media channels, which I really appreciate because many authors do not manage theirs. And, she does a great job of not trying too hard to manage her reputation. God help us when writers do THAT.

Go, Louise.

Oh, and, by the way, on her site is a section about getting published. How lovely that she shares tips.